LACK OF DISCIPLINE!!

ACTUALLY THIS IS REALLY ABOUT MY ISSUES BECAUSE HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED BY GRANDCHILDREN THIS LAST FEW DAYS AND SO HAVE NEGLECTED MY "DUTY"......producing this!!

 Football's discipline in 1915 was brought to the 'fore when, on Easter Saturday (April 3rd), referee, Mr H Smith of Nottingham, was forced to abandon his 1st Division fixture between Middlesbrough and Oldham Athletic, after 46 minutes, when the Oldham full back refused to leave the field, having been sent off. Fourth placed Oldham were playing middle of the table Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park. Oldham really needed points to keep up with division leaders, Manchester City.  Oldham fell behind after a few minutes and were 3-0 down in twenty. One goal was disputed and then Oldham were denied a penalty. In the second half at 3-1, Oldham's William Cook, fouled in the penalty area and it was 4-1. The game had been "robust" but not unruly.

A protest ensued, the 7,000 crowd became very vocal, the referee then took his watch out of his pocket, waited, sent off Cook and walked off the pitch. Apparently Cook had refused to leave the pitch, so the ref gave him a minute to change his mind, he didn't and the ref abandoned the game, a first of this kind, at this level. I have to admit I have done this in a youth match at my local club.....

With a World War going on elsewhere, most papers agreed that the culprit should be punished further. Oldham however, selected Cook for the next game away against Manchester City on the 5th. The Oldham "board" had decided that Cook shouldn't play until the FL had taken action. When Oldham arrived at the City Ground (Hyde Road), the two directors in charge of the game had no idea about this (apparently) and chose Cook at left back and the game was drawn 0-0.

The FL was furious, Cook was suspended for a year (although the season was soon to be postponed by the war!) and the Oldham club was fined £350, quite a bit in those days.

Oldham, on the brink of the Division title, had to live with the FL decision that there would be no replay of the Middlesbrough game and the scoreline was to stand. Two points lost!! Cook, back left!

They had the chance to catch up with 5 games left and they beat Man U 1-0 in the next game on the 6th, beat Sheffield Utd 3-0 on the 10th and drew 0-0 on the 17th away at Aston Villa. They lost their final two games to Burnley 1-2 and Liverpool 0-2.

Oldham finished runners up, one point behind champions, Everton. Doh!
Cook appeared for the club the following season.
After the War, Oldham came 17th in 1919-20, 19th in 1920-1, 19th in 1921-2, 22nd (bottom) in 1922-3 and relegated to Div 2! Consistent eh?

6th April

Football On This Day - 6th April 1991
In the old First Division Chelsea went 0-3 down to Luton Town at Stamford Bridge after just 23 minutes but pulled back to draw 3-3 despite having Graeme Le Saux sent off when the score was 1-3.

 

 

 

PORT VALE FC away at Chelsea 17.15

 4th April 1959

On, this day in 1959, for the first time, a club scored double figures in a Division 4 match – Hartlepools United (they had that s in their name in those days!) also setting a club record League victory when defeating Barrow 10-1 at the Victoria Ground.

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  On this day (today!) Chelsea (top??) host League One, Port Vale in the FA Cup Quarter-final. Ko 17.00
  
  
  

• Vale are the lowest-ranked team left in competition. 
• The last time a third-tier team reached the last four was 2014 and Chelsea have won the FA Cup eight times. So a bit of a historic difference.

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• The FA Cup Semi-final draw takes place this Sunday.

• The official story reported on the club website is that Port Vale F.C. was formed in 1876, following a meeting at Port Vale House, from where the club was supposed to have taken its name. However, documented evidence of football from that era is exceptionally scarce and research by historian Jeff Kent indicated that it was probably formed in 1879 as an offshoot of Porthill Victoria F.C. and took its name from the valley of canal ports where the team played. In the club's early days the team played their football at Limekiln Lane, Longport and from 1880 at Westport. The club moved to Moorland Road in Burslem in 1884, changing its name to Burslem Port Vale in the process, though stayed in Burslem for just one year before both turning professional and moving to Cobridge to play at the Athletic Ground. In 1892, the club were invited to become founder members of the Football League Second Division after proving themselves a strong club in the Midland League. They spent 13 seasons in the Second Division, either side of a two-season return to the Midland League (1896–97 and 1897–98).

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• Other PVFC FA Cup Results 2025/26: 
• 2nd November: 1st Rd v Malden and Tiptree 5-1.
• 2nd Dec: 2nd Rd v Bristol Rovers 1-0       
• 9th Jan: 3rd Rd v Fleetwood 1-0  
• 3rd March 4th Rd v Bristol City 1-0    
• 8th March 5th Rd  v Sunderland 1-0   
• 4th April 6th Rd v  Chelsea  0-3 so far!!           
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PUSKAS-HERO

Puskas, pictured, born, 1 April 1927, died, 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as:

 one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. 

A forward and an attacking midfielder, he scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary and later played four international matches for Spain as well. He is the European all-time top assist provider in international football (53). He became an Olympic champion in 1952 and led his nation to the final of the 1954 World Cup. He won three European Cups (as it was known then) (1959, 1960, 1966), ten national championships (five Hungarian and five Spanish Premier Division) and eight top individual scoring honors. Known as the "Galloping Major", in 1995, he was recognized as the greatest top division scorer of the 20th century by the IFFHS. Scoring 802 goals in 792 official games during his career, he is the seventh top goal scorer of all time by the RSSSF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yUiVxG-pWE

He was the son of former footballer Ferenc Puskás Senior. Puskás started his career in Hungary playing for Kispest and Budapest Honvéd. He was the top scorer in the Hungarian League on four occasions, and in 1948, he was the top goal scorer in Europe. During the 1950s, he was both a prominent member and captain of Hungary, known as the Mighty Magyars. After the Hungarian Revolution, Puskás served a two year ban from UEFA. Despite failing to sign for Ethnikos Piraeus in 1957 under pressure from rival clubs, in 1958, he emigrated to Spain where he successfully signed for Real Madrid at the age of 31. While playing with the club, Puskás won four Pichishis and scored seven goals in two European Cup finals, winning the competition three times with the club and claiming five consecutive La Liga titles. He scored 619 goals in 618 matches in the Hungarian and Spanish Leagues and National Cups.

After retiring as a player, he became a coach. The highlight of his coaching career came in 1971 when he guided Panathinaikos to the Eurovision Cup FInal, where they lost 2–0 to Ajax. He also led the club to the Cghampionship in 1972, becoming an icon in the country. Afterward he'd have spells at various countries and clubs, including Spain, Paraguay and the Saudi Arabia national team, with varying success. He returned again to Greece to manage an exceptionally strong AEK Athens team for the 1978-9 season. In 1993, he returned to Hungary and took temporary charge of the Hungary national team. In 1998, he became one of the first ever FIFA/SOS Charity ambassadors. In 2002, the Népstadion in Budapest was renamed the Puskas Ferenc Stadion in his honor. He was also declared the best Hungarian player of the last 50 years by the Hungarian FF in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003.In October 2009, FIFA announced the introduction of the FIFA Puskas Award, awarded to the player who has scored the "most beautiful goal" over the past year. He was also listed in Pele's FIFA 100.

Personal information
Full name	Ferenc Puskás
Birth name	Ferenc Purczeld
Date of birth	1 April 1927
Place of birth	Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Date of death	17 November 2006 (aged 79)
Place of death	Budapest, Hungary
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Forward attacking midfielder
Youth career
1940–1943	Kispest Honvéd
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1943–1956	Budapest Honvéd[i]	397	(428)
1958–1966	Real Madrid	262	(242)
Total		659	(670)
International career
1945–1956	Hungary	85	(84)
1961–1962	Spain	4	(0)
1963	Castile	1	(2)
Managerial career
1966–1967	Hércules
1967	San Francisco Golden Gate Gales
1968	Vancouver Royals
1968–1969	Alavés
1970–1974	Panathinaikos
1974–1975	Real Murcia
1975–1976	Colo-Colo
1975–1976	Saudi Arabia
1978–1979	AEK Athens
1979–1982	Al Masry
1985–1986	Sol de América
1986–1989	Cerro Porteño
1989–1992	South Melbourne
1993	Hungary
Medal record
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

HAT TRICKS

Pele holds the all time record for most career hat tricks, with the Guiness Book of Records recognizing 92. 

Player	Years	Number	Gender	Details
Erwin Helmchen	1924–1951	142+	M	Erwin Helmchen scored at least 142 hat-tricks only in official matches, including 8 goals on 2 occasions, 7 goals on three, 6 goals ten times and 5 goals 15 times.

Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for the most hat-tricks in modern!! football, with 66 career hat-tricks as of March 2026. He is followed closely by Lionel Messi, who has 61, while Robert Lewandowski and Luis Suárez are among the top active players, having scored 33 and 31 respectively. 

Top Active Players with Most Hat-Tricks (Career)

• Cristiano Ronaldo: 66 hat-tricks
• Lionel Messi: 61 hat-tricks
• Robert Lewandowski: 33 hat-tricks
• Luis Suárez: 31 hat-tricks
Erling Haaland: 25 hat-tricks 
You can watch the highlights of Sadio Mané's record-breaking hat-trick here:
https://www.premierleague.com/en/video/3347541/on-this-day-mane-scores-fastest-hat-trick-in-pl-history
The record for the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, is Sadio Mane's, scoring three goals in just 2 minutes and 56 seconds for Southampton against Aston Villa on May 16, 2015. Mané scored in the 13th, 14th, and 16th minutes of the match, which ended 6-1, breaking Robbie Fowler's previous 1994 record.

41s
Key Facts About the Record:    Player: Sadio Mané (Southampton) v Aston Villa on May 16th 2015.
Time Taken: 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Mané's quick-fire treble came in the opening minutes of the game at St Mary's Stadium, setting a new benchmark for speed in the English top flight. 
Previous Record: Robbie Fowler (4 minutes and 33 seconds for Liverpool vs. Arsenal in 1994) 

TALL STORIES

 Well, that lad can jump as high as he likes, but Simon Bloch Jorgensen is not going to lose the cross! The very tall, 6'10.5", Danish GK might struggle with low shots though. He trialled with Everton but now he is on Non-League Dulwich Hamlet's books having been at Whitehawk, Accington Stanley, Waltham Forest, Flensburg, not staying long at any club. The Giant Dane confirms the biological evolution of tall people being best suited to flat countries! Any Masai Warriors about playing footy?

Tonny Brogaard at 2.06m 6'9" was another GK at Doncaster Rovers who only played once the regular keeper, Andy Warrington, broke his leg. He is now playing in the Danish Second Division with Greve IF.

Vanja Ivesa of Eskisehirspor, Croatia will be playing with this little fellow, as they line up before the game. He is 6'8.5" (2.05m).


Peter Crouch is a midget at 2.01 (6'7"), granted his team mate is not the tallest!

Jason Mooney, below, from N.Ireland, a journeyman footballer at York, Accrington Stanley again, Tranmere Rovers and Cliftonville is 6'8" 2.04m.
Well, that lad can jump as high as he likes, but Simon Bloch Jorgensen is not going to lose the cross! The very tall, 6'10.5", Danish GK might struggle with low shots though. He trialled with Everton but now he is on Non-League Dulwich Hamlet's books having been at Whitehawk, Accington Stanley, Waltham Forest, Flensburg, not staying long at any club. The Giant Dane confirms the biological evolution of tall people being best suited to flat countries! Any Masai Warriors about playing footy?

Tonny Brogaard at 2.06m 6'9" was another GK at Doncaster Rovers who only played once the regular keeper, Andy Warrington, broke his leg. He is now playing in the Danish Second Division with Greve IF.

Vanja Ivesa of Eskisehirspor, Croatia will be playing with this little fellow, as they line up before the game. He is 6'8.5" (2.05m).


Peter Crouch is a midget at 2.01 (6'7"), granted his team mate is not the tallest!

Jason Mooney, from N.Ireland, a journeyman footballer at York, Accrington Stanley again, Tranmere Rovers and Cliftonville is 6'8" 2.04m.

The average height of a footballer is apparently 5'9".

Other long 'uns are:
Kristof van Hout, a Belgian GK, who started with Standard Liege and now plays in the Pro-League with KVC Westerloo...2.08m (6'10") reputedly the tallest, but.....
AND
 This is Paul Millar, a Scot who is 6'10" and plays for Elgin City, who had to heighten their doors to the ground to get him out of the changing rooms. Paul is a fireman full time with the RAF at Kinross. On me head son!

There is also Lacina Traore of Ivory Coast origins, who comes in at 6'8" and is a one for the future. This 23 year old is presently playing and scoring for Anzhi Makhachkala in the Russian League, with scouts keeping their eyes and ears open.

The average height of a footballer is apparently 5'9".

More long 'uns are:
Kristof van Hout, a Belgian GK, who started with Standard Liege and now plays in the Pro-League with KVC Westerloo...2.08m (6'10") reputedly the tallest, but.....
AND
 This is Paul Millar, a Scot who is 6'10" and plays for Elgin City, who had to heighten their doors to the ground to get him out of the changing rooms. Paul is a fireman full time with the RAF at Kinross. On me head son! (granted, photo has a scale issue!)

There is also Lacina Traore of Ivory Coast origins, who comes in at 6'8" and is a one for the future. This 23 year old is presently playing and scoring for Anzhi Makhachkala in the Russian League, with scouts keeping their eyes and ears open. She may carry a stool around with here on Valentine's Day!